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Choosing Sanctuary

By Sue Weishar, Ph.D.

One month after Donald Trump became president following a campaign that relentlessly scapegoated immigrants, DHS announced it was scrapping Obama administration policies that limited deportations to people who pose a public safety threat and recent border–crossers. Instead, virtually anyone in the U.S. without authorization would be a priority, including immigrants who have lived here for decades, have no criminal charges, and are the parents of U.S. citizens. As a consequence of such aggressive immigration policies, the arrest of undocumented immigrants living in the interior of the U.S. has increased 37 percent since Trump’s inauguration, despite evidence that unauthorized border crossings have plummeted to a 45-year low.

At a press conference on Nov. 15 on the steps of First Grace Methodist Church in New Orleans, Jose Torres, a 32–year–old construction worker from El Salvador, who along with tens of thousands of other undocumented immigrants helped rebuild New Orleans after Hurricane Katrina, announced he had had enough. To expose the cruelty of a system that separates parents from their children and a political narrative that blames immigrants for our nation’s ills, Torres declared that he was taking sanctuary in First Grace rather than being separated from his wife and two young daughters by complying with an order of deportation based on a first offense DUI charge that had been expunged. He told the dozens of supporters and members of the media:

“I am tired of being treated like I am disposable…Tired of [ICE] playing with my liberty and my life… I have lived here 14 years, working shoulder to shoulder with others who love this city.”